Facebook successfully makes over a half-billion people download Messenger app

Over 500 million people have now downloaded the standalone Facebook Messenger app since it was first made available in 2011, and it's likely that it has seen a surge in users since Facebook removed the messenging features from its main app several months ago.

The company didn't offer a breakdown of how many of its Messenger users are on Android, iOS and Windows Phone with today's announcement, nor did it offer any clues as to what will be included in future updates, saying only that it will continue to "evolve and improve". The removal of messaging features from the main Facebook app has been a source of controversy for many people. However, it would appear that Facebook has managed to get a large amount of its over 1 billion worldwide users to download the Messenger app to chat with their friends.

Let us know how you feel about Facebook's Messenger app in the comments!

I refuse. It was interesting to see that in the store the app has nearly four stars but when I read the reviews they are all ones and twos.

Why would I want a separate app? Why would I use this bad app where they mine data from my messages, the app kills my battery, its extremely slow, messages take up to an hour to appear, and lacks the usual functionality it should have?

I definitely miss FB message integration with the WP7/8 OS. We lost that with 8.1, but one positive aspect is the Facebook Messenger app notifications are extremely fast on my 920 (faster than SMS delivery), and it has more features than the integrated FB chat had (like stickers, attachments, voice). Will love it if a version of the Windows 8.1 app is eventually ported to phones.

Some people need some cheese to go with their "whine". It would be more helpful and more credible to give actual grievances or examples to why separate apps are good or bad rather that just saying it sucks. It will remain sucky if that's the only description the programmers have to work with.

I refuse to download and use the separate messaging app from Facebook. If I get a Facebook Message I just wait until I get home and reply on my PC. If its important, my friends know to text or call me anyway.

What does that mean? You mean like Google, where they read your mail, chat, web surfing history, location data from your Android (if you have one), and pretty much every aspect of your life on the internet public or private?

What I mean is just because someone could break into your house and steal all your shit, you don't just leave the doors and windows wide open. You got to put in limits somewhere. Unless you're a google hoe. In which case anybody could dangle a shiny object in your face and get in. F facebook's noisy advertisers and bitch ass stock holders.

Well for me Its just one msg or two and with this new fb they compulsory the app even to view msg I mean wtf ... Why do I need app which drains my phone battery even not i'am using it and to view one or two msg .. NO THANKS xD

I would choose the old WP integration over this, but since we dont have that, I prefer a separate chat app. It launches faster and better in pretty much every way to the chat that was in the regular FB app. FB was and is a hog of an app. There's a lot going on when the app is open and a lot of screens associated with it. It makes logical sense to me to break out messaging since chat is a completely separate activity to viewing and interacting with the timeline.

When FB chat was integrated in WP, you went to a separate app to chat, this is more similar to me.

I really dont understand either. If anything, I would remove Facebook and just run messenger. People do a lot of announcing their opposition, but I havent seen many explainations for why. Its not like people dont like to have apps on their phone.

Liked it better when WP had basic functionality built into the OS. :/ The Messenger app is good as far as usability goes though, but it just kills the battery on my Icon. Goes to 30-40% per hour usage. Must be something with the data connection burning up something, maybe the CPU because the phone gets really hot too.

They got a bunch to install it but are their any numbers for how many removed that crap? I downloaded it until I found out how intrusive this thing is. Then I uninstalled it. Made others on facebook do the same.

I stopped using Facebook messaging when they tried to force the separate app. What a stupid idea. What bozo thought we needed another messaging app? I'm sure I have a lot of unanswered messages....too bad for them.

I just checked to see if it was draining battery. So far it hasn't even engaged. I wonder if it engages only when you get or receive. I don't get a lot of messages through FB so that would explain my lack of battery usage.

Yes, on Android and iOS, there were complaints of the Facebook Messenger app "controlling" there device remotely somehow, people hacking into it. I was thanking Microsoft for a safe, virus free mobile OS and so we wont ever face this problem.

No, people were freaking out because the app required permission to use your camera and access to your photos and stuff like that. It was pretty much all legitimate - if you want to make an audio call, it needs your mic, if you want to send a pic, it needs access to your camera. A lot of nonsense over ignorance.

I don't like messenger apps ... They forcefully made me to use ... Main thing it's lack is freedom of choice as to which aap you really want to use ... Please downgrade the Facebook apps and don't force anyone to use your apps if people will like they will download ... Thank you

Well if the Windows Phone 8.1 developers would have kept the link between the default Messaging app and Facebook, we (the WP users) wouldn't need the Facebook Messenger app. But hey, Mark Z. isn't dumb.

When you remove and feature from the main app and place it to another app, then it is actually easy to forcibly make people download it especially when they need it. I would change the title that facebook successful force 500 million people to download the messenger app.

When they force you to use an app, of course you gonna download to use it (if you have intention to continue use it). For me, FB Messenger works perfect on my phone, resuming is fast, no lag whatsoever (Samsung ATIV S i8750)

Anyone who has ever chatted with others on Facebook had no choice but to download the Messenger app. It's annoying, and I personally avoided it as long as I could, but it's not like there's really a choice if you chat with others on there. Stupid that Facebook removed the integrated chat feature to begin with.

After many reports of the app causing battery drain I pinned the mobile site and added it to my FB folder. My use of FB is light enough that i dont need a dedicated app, especially if its chewing battery.

The mobile site is better than the FB app for windows as well, so definitely the right thing to do. And you can set your FB account to notify via email, so you get the notifications even without an app.

Sigh. Just because an app is missing a feature that exists on another platform, does not mean that the app "sucks". As a messeging app, Facebook Messenger is very fast and smooth. Uploading pictures is easier than any of the other messaging apps.

Do I wish it supported voice calls? Sure. But that is not in any way essential to have in a messaging app. It performs its primary purpose wonderfully.

I think if we're talking about the 520 I probably agree. I have been regulary using it on a 635 and 1020... neither one of those seems to have any performance issues with it. But it's been a while since I tried it on the 520... but I find that phone to be pretty slow in geenral. I can't speak to Android... the only experience I have with that is my wife's S4, so it's obviously not low end.

To me it does suck ! , all my friends got androids and iPhones and they enjoy calling features except me who's Holding a WP , they. Know that it's the smoothest os between all but the lack of apps sure makes their OSs better , they don't find any good features that make them want to get WPs without regrets ! And so much regrets

I could message just fine before with just one app running; now they want to force me to have two battery hogs? No thanks. I was getting tired of FB anyway. You like it? Good for you - you can have it. And keep it.

Other than many other stupid problems the major one is not seeing my friends posts only pages!!!!! Many people are having this I mean what's the point of a social network if you can't view your friends posts!!!

I didnt understand this complaint until my mom told me she hardly ever gets on FB now because all she sees is pages and not individual "friend's" post. I thought she must be doing something wrong and had her show me. She pulled up her phone and sure enough, the only thing in her newsfeed was ads and commercial pages. She logs on the computer and it looks normal in the browser.

It shows more posts from pages cause FB on the browser filter the posts from the pages and ask them to pay if you want all your posts to be shown in the people's news feed... On the WP app it does not.

Why is downloading a separate app bad? I really didnt have a problem with it. The messenger app loads faster than opening Facebook and navigating to messages. Of course, the best scenario would be a messaging hub that supported FB chat integrated without an app.

For me it's a bunch of BS because, 1) I almost never communicate through messages on Facebook. Facebook being NOT private, i almost never think to use it for messages that i wouldn't want public. When i want to simply message someone I'll text them, not FB message them. Since i almost never use this feature, then why should i have to have a whole separate app. And 2) if the regular Facebook app says i have a message waiting, then why bounce me out to a whole different app. Either remove the notifications from Facebook app too, or put messaging back in the FB app.

Because less is more. Who wants two apps where one sufficed? What's next, separate FB apps for photos, events, news feed, etc.? Now imagine if every app did this. Instead of having to manage a dozen apps, you're now forced to manage hundreds. It's absurd.

I gave up on facebook years ago. I've removed all apps from phones, PC's & Surface. Although it's still the best way to keep in touch with people. So I would never go the route of these crazy people and just delete my account. It's good for checking once a week or so. I don't understand why people either have to have it one way or the other, just use it in moderation.

Exactly, less is more. When I want to send a message, I dont need to load the entire FB world, I can just open messaging. Its almost like the old WP days when you just went to messaging hub, but without the integration of multiple services.

Like the windows phone message panel? I prefer that instead of the Facebook messenger. I don't need an app that I have to keep switching between that only works with one service. The message and people hubs work well.

Same here. If you want to get ahold of me, text me. If you message me on Facebook, then obviously it can wait until I get curious enough to check my Facebook manually. I didn't mind having the Facebook app and getting notifications for it, but as soon as they turned off messages in their main app, I uninstalled and put a bookmark to the webpage in it's place.

@kleider1
I was thinking the same thing ;)
As someone else pointed out above, I use my generous text allowance for messaging simply because of privacy. I never use any of the other messaging apps because I don't see the point of them.